BURNABY, B.C. – Changes to how small business corporations are taxed proposed by the Federal Government fail the test of fairness and will hurt middle class entrepreneurs and small business owners, the president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) outlined in a submission to government today.
“We should be doing everything we can to promote and support entrepreneurship, not penalizing Canadians who want to start a new venture or who are managing the small businesses that are the lifeblood of our economy,” said ICBA president Chris Gardner. “The family-owned restaurant, the mom-and-pop corner grocery store, the boutique hotel, and the local construction contractor are being unfairly targeted by these new measures.”
The ICBA submission calls on the federal government to withdraw their proposals and instead open meaningful dialogue with small business owners and entrepreneurs on how to make our tax system more effective and ensure that any changes in tax policy do not undermine small business confidence or negatively impact job creation and investment across the country.
“Small business owners appear to be targeted with language such as ‘loopholes’ and ‘backdoor tax breaks’ implying that their tax treatment and behaviour is somehow underhanded,” said Gardner. “ICBA members and small businesses across the country are very concerned with the government’s narrative implying that most small businesses are not paying their fair share of tax – nothing could be further from the truth.”
ICBA’s submission to the Department of Finance outlines the story of Dave and Brenda, a hypothetical married couple who own a construction contracting business. It highlights several examples of how the government’s proposed rules will negatively impact their business, dismantle their retirement savings, and make it prohibitively expensive to transfer the business to their son.
“Dave and Brenda have a common story – risking it all to start a small business, working long hours and sacrificing evenings and weekends to keep the company going, creating jobs for people in their community, saving for their retirement, and hoping to pass the business on to their kids,” said Gardner. “It’s hard to understand why the federal government is effectively accusing hundreds of thousands of Canadians of doing something wrong when they are simply playing by the rules, trying to build a business, supporting their communities and working hard to make an honest living.”
For ICBA’s full submission to the federal government’s consultation on tax planning using private corporations, click HERE.
